Clarified: MXGP of Britain

Steve Dixon on Matterley Basin

Thursday 5, July 2018 · 2 minutes read

There has been a lot of discussion about the provisional FIM Motocross World Championship calendar, but the fact that the Grand Prix of Great Britain has been moved to March has sparked the most debate. The weather is obviously an immediate concern for insiders and fans, but SD Events just released a statement that addresses some of those worries.

"As you know I am extremely passionate and positive about the GPs, it is my thirtieth straight year in GPs since starting in 1990 for Yamaha as a mechanic for JeremyWhatley," Steve Dixon said in this statement. "It makes me very proud to bring the British GP back to Matterley for 2019, especially as the European opener.

"I remember the great events I attended at the Winchester club (as a rider) on New Year‘s day, Hawkstone Park on New Year's day (with the team), then the Shell Series in February at Foxhill followed by a GP at Foxhill in July getting cancelled as the pits were completely flooded.

The Grand Prix of Great Britain will be round three next year (Monster Energy Media/Ray Archer)

"Earlier this year I was already thinking about the having the British GP as the season opener for 2019, so I filmed Darian Sanayei at Matterley inFebruary," Dixon continued. "The conditions were perfect and I have put a video up on our Facebook page to show what it was like!

"I am confident this will be a great British GP, we have a really solid team and are all excited for the new date. As always we will prepare to the best of our ability… The rest is down to you, the fans, to spread the word and bring the biggest crowd in 2019 to set the standard for the rest of the season," Dixon concluded.

It was also mentioned that "we have had our fair share of good, bad, and downright terrible weather throughout the many dates we have held at Matterley (none of which have ever been cancelled), so we believe it is better to focus on the things we can control in order to bring the best event possible. With an earlier date both travel and accommodation will be cheaper, as well as hopefully missing any conflicting dates with club races."

There are certainly positives that come with the change of date. The greatest thing is that British fans will be the first to see the team trucks for the first time, as well as the opening round of some EMX classes. Those things alone are worth bracing the weather for. The full calendar can be viewed elsewhere on MX Vice.